Braves Minor League Recap: Mississippi notches lone win as other affiliates fall

It wasn’t the best of days down on the farm for Atlanta as only one affiliate came out on top. However, despite only adding one victory to the win column, there were impressive performances on both sides of the ball for multiple teams.

(2-8) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (6-5) Memphis Redbirds 10

• Joe Hudson, C: 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB
• Yolmer Sanchez, DH: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI
• Vaughn Grissom, SS: 2-4, 1 BB
• Forrest Wall, LF: 1-3, 1 HR (grand slam), 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB
• Domingo Robles, SP: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K,

Box Score

A four-run, ninth inning comeback attempt was not enough to propel Gwinnett to a win over the Memphis Redbirds on Wednesday.

Domingo Robles got the start on the mound for the Stripers and had a rather rough go of it. The 24-year-old lefty surrendered seven runs across 3.2 innings, putting Gwinnett into a deep hole before it even had time to breath.

Forrest Wall brought home Yolmer Sanchez on a first inning sac fly, giving the Stripers their first run of the game and Joe Hudson homered in the second inning, tying things up at 2-2. Things would soon go off the rails however, as Memphis would plate seven unanswered runs across the next five innings to take a 10-2 lead.

Trailing by eight runs headed into the bottom of the eighth, Yolmer Sanchez brought home a run on a double for Gwinnett, cutting the lead to 10-3. After loading the bases in the top of the ninth, Roel Ramirez would prevent any further damage and get Masyn Winn to groundout to send the game into its final frame.

After Charlie Culberson struck out to kick the inning off, Gwinnett would sandwich a pair of walks around a Joe Hudson single to load the bases before Forrest Wall launched a grand slam over the right field wall. Vaughn Grissom worked a walk after drawing a full count, but that would be the final baserunner Gwinnett would muster as Braden Shewmake and Sanchez would line out to end the game.

(3-2) Mississippi Braves 9, (2-3) Chattanooga Lookouts 5

• Beau Philip, 3B: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R
• Drew Campbell, RF: 2-5, 2 RBI
• Cody Milligan, CF: 1-2. 3 R, 2 BB
• Beau Burrows, SP: 3.1 IP, 2 BB, 5 K

Box Score

Notching the only win amongst Atlanta’s minor league corps, Mississippi used a solid start on the mound from a former first-round pick to take down Chattanooga 9-5, moving them one game over .500 on the young season.

Beau Burrow — the 22nd overall selection in the 2015 draft by the Detroit Tigers — made his first start with Mississippi on Wednesday and impressed as he spun 3.1 innings striking out five and only allowing three hits and two walks.

Burrow’s offense staked him to an early commanding lead as the Braves plated five runs in the first inning. Mississippi worked four walks around a pair of strikeouts to bring home their first run, as Beau Philip launched his first homer of the season — a grand slam — into the left field stands, giving Mississippi a 5-0 lead before the Lookouts even came to the plate.

The Braves added a run in the second inning (on a Luke Waddell single) and a run in the third (on a Drew Campbell single), extending their lead to 7-0.

Mississippi would add another run in the top of the fifth on another Campbell single before Chattanooga plated four runs of their own, cutting the Braves lead in half at 8-4.

Kyle Wilcox tossed 1.1 innings out of the bullpen, striking out three batters to cap off the victory for Mississippi on the day.

(2-2) Rome Braves 5, (3-0) Bowling Green Hot Rods 9

• Sam Strickland, SP: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HR
• Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 2-3, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB
• Drake Baldwin, C: 3-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB

Box Score

On most days, five runs would probably be enough to bring home a win. But that wasn’t the case for Rome on Wednesday afternoon as they dropped the second game of the series by a final of 9-5.

Rome got on the board in the first inning courtesy of a Drake Baldwin single that scored Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., the first of Baldwin’s two RBIs on the day.

Things remained fairly quiet through the second and third innings, and the Braves would even tack on another run in the top of the fourth on a Brandon Parker single that scored Cody Acton.

Sam Strickland got the start on the mound for Rome and he managed to get through three scoreless innings before things went south in the fourth.

Clinging to a 2-0 lead headed into the home half of the 4th, the wheels would fall off the wagon for the Braves as the Hot Rods managed to plate five runs. Bowling Green tallied six of their 11 hits on the day in the inning, including a pair of homers to take a 5-2 lead.

Rome got a run back in the top of the fifth but quickly allowed two more runs to Bowling Green in the bottom half, making it 7-3 Hot Rods. The Braves were able to pull within two runs after Kilpatrick and Baldwin brought home a pair of runners to cut the lead to 7-5.

A Hot Rod two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh extended Bowling Green’s lead to 9-5, putting the game on ice and giving Rome their second loss of the season.

(1-2) Augusta GreenJackets 0, (3-1) Down East Wood Ducks 1

• Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 1-2, BB
• Adam Shoemaker, SP: 3 IP, 1 BB, 4 K
• Seth Keller, RP: 3 IP, 2 H, 4 K

Box Score

Going into this season, the crown jewel of the Braves minor league system figured to be the Augusta pitching staff. And while the arms were certainly in peak form on Wednesday, the offense sputtered as the GreenJackets were shutout, moving to 1-2 with the loss.

Adam Shoemaker made his 2023 debut as he started on the mound for Augusta and put up an excellent first outing spinning three scoreless innings. Shoemaker struck out four batters and allowed just one baserunner on a walk issued in the top of the third. Shoemaker then gave way to another top pitching prospect, Seth Keller who also made his season debut on Wednesday.

Keller would do his best Shoemaker impression, as the 18-year-old righty tossed three scoreless innings of his own to go along with four strikeouts.

The only blemish on the pitching staff on the night was a seventh inning wild pitch by Jhancarlos Lara, which allowed the only run of the game to be scored.

Offensively, Augusta only managed two hits, a leadoff double to open the game for the GreenJackets and a seventh inning double off the bat of Dawson Dimon.